Man Who Killed Girlfriend and Her Lover After Catching Them Together Faces Retrial. When he “snapped in a jealous rage because he saw them being intimate and felt “humiliated,” a 50-year-old man in Wisconsin who is already serving dual life sentences for killing his girlfriend and her best friend by stabbing them both to death will go on trial next month for allegedly attacking a correctional officer while he was incarcerated.
According to court documents Richard Wendell Sotka is presently set to stand trial on one count of battery by a prisoner on January 8, 2025, in Green Bay.
In 2023, Sotka made news when he was convicted on two charges of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the murders of his lover, Rhonda Cegelski, 58, and Cegelski’s best friend, Paula O’Connor, 53. After that, Sotka was given two consecutive life terms without the possibility of release.
Originally scheduled to start on October 16, 2024, Sotka’s battery trial was rescheduled until December 11. According to a report from Green Bay Fox station WLUK, Sotka’s lawyer, Jeff Cano, informed the court last week that his client has not been able to meet with counsel or review discovery in the case. Judge Beau Liegeois of the Brown County Circuit Court then allowed Cano’s plea to move the trial date to the following month.
A copy of the criminal complaint that the station was able to get states that Sotka struck the correctional officer’s head repeatedly with both hands.
In a statement following the alleged attack, the victim claimed, “Sotka screamed something, and that is when Sotka struck me for the first time with a fist.” I was struck in the left ear by his fist. I saw stars and my ear stung from the impact. “What are you doing?” I shouted. On the radio, I heard Officer AG request backup. We took a step back as Sotka kept hitting me with his fist repeatedly. The blows seemed to be landing on my head.
According to the victim, Sotka never had his consent to hit him.
The victim claimed, “I went into a defensive position at one point as he kept hitting me.” “I was able to reach out and block his blows against me at last. When Officer AG showed in, I could sense Sotka’s anxiety easing.
As previously reported on January 29, 2023, police arrived at the duplex that Sotka and Cegelski shared after the latter’s daughter called 911 after discovering the two victims dead inside. Both had been repeatedly stabbed by an 8-inch blade that was found at the site.
The Green Bay Press Gazette reported that both ladies had sustained multiple stab wounds to their necks and faces. O’Conner’s body was nearer the duplex’s front entrance, and the knife was still lodged in her neck. The body of Cegelski was found in the kitchen.
In connection with the killings of the women, investigators immediately looked for Sotka, who was seeing Cegelski.
At the time, Sotka was out on bond from a separate case in Oconto County, Ohio, where he was ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor and was accused of stalking, harassing, and violating a restraining order. However, the criminal damage to property accusation was brought about by Sotka cutting the monitoring device off his leg and discarding it along Interstate 41.
But Sotka was traveling through Arkansas in a truck that belonged to his work and had its own OnStar GPS tracker.
About ten hours after the bodies of the victims were found, Sotka was taken into custody by Arkansas authorities. According to officials, he had his passport on him and was carrying around $4,000.
According to a prosecution complaint, Sotka confessed to the double murder after being arrested, telling authorities that he felt “humiliated” after watching the two ladies having sex following a night of heavy drinking. In the separate case, he also disputed the stalking claims against him on multiple occasions.
He claimed to have asked [Cegelski] where he was meant to go and that’s when he abruptly lost it. Authorities noted, “He claimed he couldn’t provide [police] with specifics or an accurate account of what transpired, but he is aware that he totally lost it.” [Sotka] responded, “I’m not guilty of what they said I did in Oconto County, but I am guilty of killing these girls.”
According to the Gazette, Sotka allegedly admitted to investigators that he had “snapped” on another woman he was seeing some 20 years before the killings. In that instance, he allegedly cracked the victim’s skull, damaged her leg, and knocked out her teeth. In that instance, the victim also provided testimony at the trial for Sotka’s murder.
